Opposition in all things

Life has been a little stressful... About 10 days ago I woke up to a horrible smell coming from somewhere in the house. It smelled like the geysers at Yellowstone, if you know what I mean. As soon as I thought they'd be open, I called Sewer Bee. The guy was able to come out in the afternoon and said our septic was full, so he pumped it ($200), but that really didn't explain the smell. He recommended we call a plumber... not something I wanted to hear. I called the one that was recommended and he was able to come the next day. He looked up at the pipes for a long time. He asked several questions, like if we had any drainage issues, which we do. He figured out all our drainage issues and then fixed the smell!!! He also replaced a pipe coming from the kitchen (it wasn't giving us any problems, but he said the T-joint was upside-down and eventually it would cause problems. He didn't write it down or anything, I think it just bugged him and he had to get it out of there) He also fixed the pipes under the kitchen sink so they would stop leaking. ($400)
I was starting to feel like everything was back to normal when I went out to check on our newly acquired lambs. The one that had been the most frisky was now hobbling all over the place and was very thin. I called Trent and then my friend Heidi. Heidi brought some of her sheep supplies and we fed it a bottle and forced some medicine down its throat. After a few times of doing this and a few days rest it was much better.
I'm not used to so much drama and was so glad to relax a bit. Friday night Maddie came over, she's the other Webelos leader. We were planning out the next few months when I noticed how hot the house was. The ac was running, but it wasn't blowing cool air. I turned the unit off and planned to call Budget on Monday morning. Monday morning the bus took the boys to school and I planned to feed the animals before I called Budget. I noticed the little white lamb wasn't looking well. I picked her up, and she was almost dead! I brought her out to the back of the truck and looked her over. Her stomach was blown up like a balloon and she was quiet and limp, not a good sign. I called Trent and then ran and got the sheep book. I made a mixture the book suggested to help with the bloating. Trent called several people and finally we decided to have her checked out by the vet. I know we're raising them for food, but we decided it would be good to talk to a vet about our little flock, get her advice on what we can do to possibly help this one and keep the rest of them healthy. It was a good call. She thought the sheep was too far gone, but gave us some things we could try. She also gave us advice on what immunizations to administer and what we could do with the rest of them. The little guy actually pulled through. When I called the office to thank the vet, she was shocked it had survived. We did all the things she suggested for the rest of the lambs as well and all seem to be healthy, Yeah!!!
After this crisis was over I called the ac guys. The Budget people who installed the system 3 years ago told us it was still under warranty,... the parts, that is. He told us it would be $950 in labor to repair the system! What!?!... are you serious!. We paid the diagnostic fee and sent him on his way. I'd had a good experience with Hiller so I called them again. Nathan, from Hiller, was able to fix the problem in less than an hour and the grand total was $209, a far cry from the $1000 the other guy would have charged, what a Wiener!!!
Things seem to be going well now, Thank Goodness. I sure am glad life isn't like this all the time. We're told there is an opposition in all things, I guess I needed a lesson in appreciation for the good things in my life:)

"Mack"

Rachael loves all her brothers, but she absolutely ADORES Matthew. She has always called him "Maff-yew", but lately her usual name for him has turned into "Mack". I think it is very cute, but Matthew keeps trying to teach her to say MaTT rather than the less favorable MaCK. Over and over he'll say "MaTT", then she replies "MaCK".

Earlier this week she was playing in the back of the house when the bus pulled up and a few seconds later the door opened. She joyfully screamed ,"MACK", and then ran to the door to jump into his arms. Matthew is very good to Rachael and I can understand why she adores her kind, gentle, even tempered big brother.

Spring Break

(Jacob and his friend Justin)
Spring Break was more than a week ago, but because it takes so long to upload pictures and then the writing (I have a dial-up connection) it's taken me forever to find the necessary time to sit down and write about it. Anyway, the kids had 5 days off and Trent was able to take 3 of those days off himself.
If it were up to the boys they would spend their entire week sitting in front of video games and the computer. The weather was a bit crazy, one day it would be gorgeous outside and then the very next we'd be on the alert for tornadoes. On one of the nice days we took advantage and went to a park on Post.

(James and Matthew enjoyed climbing in the trees. Once on the ground a group of them found fallen limbs and a 'sword' fight ensued)
Originally, it was going to be just the little ones and myself, but after all the sitting around I informed the rest of my brood we'd all be going. I told them we'd have a picnic and then they could go fishing. Of course, most of them grumbled and complained, but they did help with the food and found all the fishing equipment. Once at the park the majority of them took off to find the lake. James stayed behind and played with Rachael. They fed the ducks in the stream and then he pushed her in the swings. When everyone returned we ate, and then some fished while others explored the very large and inviting trees. (My boys love the movie 'Swiss Family Robinson'... can you guess why?)

During some of the other days Trent decided it was time to put everyone to work. We have a pole that carries electricity to the barn, and whenever the wind blows it takes the pole with it. So, to stop this from happening, Trent made a cage and needed it filled with rocks. Ah, rock collecting, sounds like a perfect activity for sedentary boys, and a busy little girl. While they were doing that, Trent kept working on his duck pen.

We bought some Mandarin Ducks several months ago and Trent has been building a pen for them. Working full time, being a dad and a husband affords him little time to actually work on the pen. These few days he took off allowed him the time he needed to finally complete it!!! He did an amazing job, the ducks have places to nest, swim and get out of the sun or storms. Rachael and I are outside quite a bit, watching the ducks, and they really love their new home.

(Until the pen was complete the ducks were in the chicken coop with the chickens)

Joey's 7th Birthday

When I was growing up, it was a tradition that about a month before our birthdays my mom would have us look through "The Cut-Up Cake Book". We would then decide which cake we wanted her to make to celebrate the upcoming day. Of course, it was never an easy decision and I'm sure all of us changed our minds many times within that month.

When I became a mom, I was given a copy of "The Cake Book" to continue the tradition. Over the years I've accumulated several different books and my kids love to look through them. This year Joey picked Firecrackers. I find this pattern a bit boring and tried to talk him into a more exciting one, but he stuck with his original choice. So, here is a picture of the firecrackers I made for Joey's 7th birthday. (Not very exciting, but quite tasty.)
Another tradition we've established is to take the birthday child out of school at lunch time and take him to lunch. Rather than return to school, we do some shopping for a gift or just go home (so they can play with said gift before the rest of the brothers get home). This year, Joey's birthday fell during Spring Break, so we let him pick a friend to go with him to his choice of restaurant. Joey picked his best school friend, Noah. As you can probably tell, they chose to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Only Joey, Noah and I went, and the boys had a wonderful time. I had a coupon for a good deal on over 100 tokens and since it was just the two of them splitting the tokens they were able to play for a couple of hours!

After eating and playing, we made our way to Toys R Us. Joey loves to play board games and so the plan was to let him pick out a game and that would be his present from Trent and I. After going through all the games (twice) it was time to use the restroom. On the way back to the game aisle we passed the Fisher Price Imagination toys. Joey saw this (see pic) collection and asked if he could have it for his birthday. This from a boy who told me a few months ago, "You can give away all my toys because I'm too big to play with them." Heck, it was his birthday, so that's what he got. It was a bit pricey so I told him it would be from us and his grandparents (I used the money his grandparents sent to pay for the set additions) Once home, the kids had a blast setting it up and playing for a while. Then they went outside to play swords and explore the woods.
All in all I think it was a very nice 7th birthday.
(I still can't believe my little boy is 7 years old!)

It Was Bound to Happen

Rachael (2 years), Joey (7 years), Matthew (13 years)
After years of Poke Mon, Transformers, Knights and Dragons it has been so much fun to have baby dolls and 'pretties' (necklaces, bracelets and tiaras) around the house. Rachael loves her babies and I love when she makes her brothers hug and rock them.
But..., one girl surrounded by 5 boys, I suppose it was inevitable. The other day I walked into Rachael's room and I found her playing dinosaurs with her brothers, Noooo! I know, I know, there's no such thing as boy and girl toys... Whatever!
I guess it's okay for her to play with their old toys, but I still better be able to play babies and dress-up with my long awaited GIRL.

Hibernating Bears

Sunday, after church, Joey came into our room and announced that he was bored. As anyone knows; when one comes home from church, one eats lunch and then takes a nap. Joey said he's too old for a nap and climbed up next to Trent and tried to convince him to play a game or something. Trent told him he's got a great game, Joey stopped him and said, rather loudly, "Not hibernating bears!" (Guess he's pulled that one a few too many times) They compromised and played, 'Let's see who can keep their eyes closed the longest'. Apparently I lost, since I'm the one who took the picture.

As a side note: Joey slept the rest of the day, woke up to use the bathroom and then slept until 7:00 the next morning. I'm guessing our little "hibernating cub" is on a growth spurt.